This paper describes the need for the implementation
of an education for innovativeness. Innovativeness as the ability to
participate in innovation processes is a competence closely linked to
participation processes in a complex, dynamic and ever-changing world that
needs mature citizens to shape present and future societies in accordance with
their ideas, interests, and social responsibility. This involves questioning
current circumstances (reflexivity), developing new ideas (creativity) and
bringing those ideas into action (implementivity), which are the three core
dimensions of innovativeness. Participation options in innovation processes are
multifaceted as they occur in an active, idea-creating manner, and/or in a
reactive, innovation-evaluating and implementing orientation as well. An
education for innovativeness addresses all these extents. This paper outlines, that
current educational-political documents in the case of Germany are nominally
supportive towards an education for innovativeness at least by promoting the
ability to participate. However, these calls do not comprehensively meet the
standards of innovativeness: Firstly, because the term innovation is fuzzy and dominated by catch-word usage. Secondly,
innovation and participation are mostly obligated to a neoliberalist ideal that
rather supports consolidation of a given framework than mature societal changes.
Widely deepening rudimentary educational-political calls for participation,
this paper, in contrast, argues for a humanistic perspective on innovation
processes in accordance with the humanistic ideal of education, allowing real
participation as well as future- and development-oriented structuring of
society. The case of the German subject Sachunterricht
(Primary Social and Science Education) illustrates that innovativeness can be
taught in school -even in the early years- as this interdisciplinary subject
meets the open character of innovativeness and provides linkages to lifeworld
related scenarios. Nevertheless, a schoolbook task analysis regarding the
subject Sachunterricht reveals that there is almost no fostering of innovativeness
in this given material. Space and obligation are left to develop concepts and
instruments that foster innovativeness in school.
innovativeness innovation participation elementary education Primary Social and Science Education Sachunterricht schoolbook analysis task analysis
Journal Section | Articles |
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Authors | |
Publication Date | April 30, 2017 |
Submission Date | July 25, 2017 |
Published in Issue | Year 2017 |
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